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I really shouldn’t judge her but what Cecilia Sue, the state’s star witness, against the once-star civil servant — aka Ng Boon Gay — has been saying in court and circulated with glee on the Internet almost as soon as her words are uttered reminds me of what Walter Woon, ex-Solictor General, once said in Parliament when he was a Nominated MP.

Prof Woon, then attacking the stock exchange’s move to create scripless trading via a central depository had claimed that the scheme had so many holes in it that one could “drive a double decker bus” thru it.

Prof Woon has been proven wrong of cos and may I be so, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ $ being devoted to prosecuting Ng, an ex-law enforcer, for corruption. Besides the red faces of shame or anger of those Singaporeans who think it’s impossible for our country to be the breeding ground to such scandals🙄

But what Ms Sue has been saying in court re the forced performance of oral sex –esepcially when it’s over 4 occasions — sounds incredible whereas her original statement and text messages (surfaced in cross-examination by Ng’s defence lawyer –reproduced from Todayonline below) have a clearer ring of truth.

Whereas her 1st day testimony left me wondering: Why was she always the one doing the driving? Why did she have to pick him up and drop him off? Why say “yes” again — and again — and again — after the first nasty encounter?

Couldn’t she have reported him to the police? (OK, he was a policeman. But given her pallyness with the Home Team, couldn’t she have sounded out these other friends for advice? Pretend it’s one of her girl friends having such a problem? Did she confide in any of her girlfriends or family members? Why did she die-die grin and swallow the humiliation?)

Or had she become one of those “sex slaves” one reads of in macabre real crime stories for which Europe and the United States are so infamous for?

Cecilia Sue breaks down in court, insists she is telling ‘the truth’ by Amir Hussain (TODAY)

Updated 02:25 PM Sep 27, 2012

SINGAPORE – The woman at the centre of former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) Director Ng Boon Gay’s high profile corruption case was grilled this morning on whether she had an intimate relationship with Ng.

Ms Cecilia Sue, 36, was asked by Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, Ng’s lawyer, why she said she had sexual intercourse with Ng in her first statement to the Corrupt Practices Investiagtion Bureau (CPIB) in December last year.

Ms Sue replied she had done so in order “not to implicate anyone”, and as she was frightened. The defence lawyer, however, probed the former Oracle sales manager on how she could be so detailed about the incident two years earlier.

The statement, paragraphs of which were submitted to the court by the defence, described an undressed Ng pushing aside Ms Sue’s panties for sexual intercourse, followed by oral sex in an apartment at Great World City in June 2009.

It is also inconsistent, Mr Tan said, that she subsequently altered a sentence in the statement to read: “I had a (more) liking for Boon Gay”, after the incident.

Disclaiming the factual veracity of the statement, and breaking down once during the intense cross-examination, Ms Sue said: “What I say today is the truth. Nothing but the truth.”

Earlier in the morning, Mr Tan read out text messages Ms Sue had sent to Ng, 46, which suggested the two had an intimate relationship.

The first message read out in court was “Do you DIY?”. Another message on July 2 last year read: “I could have three hours with you. We had fun”. Yet another, later that same day said: “She’s home?”.

Among other messages Mr Tan read to the court: “M U”, “you ignore me how how how” and in response to a text message that was not replied to: “where’s family day?”

Ng is facing four charges of corruption for obtaining oral sex from Ms Sue in return for allegedly favouring tenders from the companies she worked for.

The Prosecution’s case is that Ms Sue was pressured into performing fellatio because she was concerned about the contracts, and that she would jeopardise the commercial relationship she had built with the CNB.

The defence’s case is that Ng had an affair with Ms Sue between 2009 and last year, but personal indiscretions aside, was not corrupt.

If convicted, Ng could be jailed up to five years and fined S$100,000 for each charge.

The trial has been adjourned and hearing will resume tomorrow morning.

Now that Mr S R Nathan has also spoken about the presidency, chances are he might well stand again, age notwithstanding.

The line-up could then be:

Incumbent president, Mr S R Nathan.

Mr Tan Cheng Bock, ex-MP and ex-PAP man, who was the first to collect his eligibility form on June 1.

Mr Tan Kin Lian, ex-NTUC and ex-PAP, who after friends had collected the form him, has since confirmed he will be standing.

Mr George Yeo, ex-Foreign Affairs Minister, ex-Ajunied MP, now away in Taiwan and whose fans have also collected a form for him. He is praying hard be4 making his decision known.

Yet another “Tan” may be entering the presidential race. He is Dr Ton Tan, ex Deputy Prime Minister and current SPH chairman, who was reported as saying that times will be hard ahead and the next president has to be someone who understands finance and how GIC and our other reserves are managed, and policy trade-offs. His comments are taken to suggest that he too may contest, prompting FakePMLee, a popular tweeterer, to call the presidential election the clash of the ti-Tans.

Since the list of presidential wannabes is lengthening, I might as well add one name that I would like to see in the ring.

He is none other than Prof Walter Woon, ex-Nominated MP, ex-Singapore ambassador to Germany and several European countries, ex-solicitor general and ex-attorney general. And currently he heads the Institute of Legal Education.

If Prof Woon does go for the presidency and wins, he will be the first Singapore president to have successfully introduced a private member’s bill in Parliament — the Maintenance of Parents Act — as well as knowing the laws and constitution like the back of his hand.

And unlike Mr Tan Kin Lian, Prof Woon will not have problems with protocol when dealing with foreign dignataries. He may live as simple a life as Mr KL but he’s well trained in diplomacy!😆

Have been eating out a lot since Nov 1 last year, starting with a buffet at the Asian Civilisation Museum which celebrated its 2nd anniversary and had my first turkey of the seaon. Even be4 the turkey and the wine from Vinum could go thru my system fully, I was at the Equinox champagne brunch the following morning.

As usual the food at Equinox (on the 70th floor of Raffles City) was great and the waiter who served us our free flow champagne was most attentive; our glassese never went below half full be4 he was at our table topping up.

Quite unlike the experience at the monthly Sunday champagne brunch at the Tanglin Club where the waiters never auto top-up. I have always had to signal that my glass has been drained to the last drop and even then, the pour is made reluctantly.

super plump oysters at Equinox

constant refill

Nov 5 saw me being wined and dined by a senior journalist from TODAY, Mediacorp’s free-sheet. He took me to the Sheraton Tower’s well known Italian restaurant — DOMVS — where our neighbouring table hosted no less than the sepia financial big wigs of yesteryear, such as Peter Seah (ex-OUB– which alas is no more, now part of UOB) and Ng Kee Choe (ex-DBS).

TODAY’s big wig offered wine and a la carte menu but in keeping with my motto not to “sha”, even when the host isn’t exactly a friend and he’s on expense account, I opted for the set, and the two-course set at that (when a three-course set was also available).

I had wine by the glass (one glass only) and flavourful Tasmanian cured salmon for starter and an equally flavourful main of cod. Followed by coffee and petite fours.

fresh peppercorn to die 4!

cod in a dish

Nov 7 was the Friday lunch group’s monthly get-together: we’ve been meeting n eating like this since the 1970s, tho I only got onboard in the late 1980s. We used to go to a restaurant in King’s Hotel; then moved to various Teochew restaurants and finally settled at the American Club with occasional forays to Demsey Hill.

The America Club’s 3-course set lunch with coffee for around $25 per head is considered by lunch group members to be s steal.

My main and dessert below:

generous cod

sweet ending

Nov 8 and 13 were another two days when eating out yielded some good catch. After the NUSS anniversary concert on Nov 8 at the University Cultural Centre, we headed back to the Tanglin Club for supper when I discovered its seared tuna salad (below), colorful, tasty, lite on the stomach and on the wallet (think it’s priced at under $10):

One friend had a Caesar salad while the other opted for just bread and butter because she suffers horribly from food allergy, tho not quite sure what food, so plain bread and butter seemed best. Our meal would have been uneventful if not for one awful hypochondraic and TC member, who passing our table, tutted! “Eating salads at this time of the night”, implying that raw to semi raw food wasn’t good for health at 11pm!

Nov 13 being the death anniversary of a good friend, one of the dearly departed’s good friends has been holding a lunch in dearly departed’s memory ever since 2006 when dearly departed, departed. As usual, it was at dearly departed’s favourite eating place when dearly departed was around and made a point of having its food on a daily basis.

So there we were, people who used to eat regularly with dearly departed, gathered at Princess Terrace (also at King’s Hotel) to eat once more with feeling the Penang Nyonya food buffet that the restaurant has become famous for in the past 20 years or so.

My fravourite dishes at Princess Terrace are always the satay, nasi ulam, otak and dry mee siam neat (ie without any garnishings, unlike T-Shake Hut, now renamed Uncle’s Kitchen). Followed by the kueh kueh to die for, a sort of peranakan petite fours.

mixing memories with taste

Then it was to brunch at the Pyramid Club on Sunday, Nov 16, as guest of an old colleague and his three-generation family. Actually, I was asked along with another friend — the real intended guest — who had come to visit from Australia but at the last moment because of family problems, she couldn’t make it. And I guess, the host couldn’t un-invite me.

So, I was the sole non-family guest at the Thai-themed brunch where other diners were a veritable who’s who of the Singapore political establishment. Ditto my host, wife and mum.

where the establishment feeds

drink, drink n b merry

Nov 19 saw me treated to the semi buffet lunch byyet another ex-colleague — at the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club where we had the semi-buffet lunch. Skipped soup and virtually had no dessert as the starter buffet and the main of pan-fried salmon added up to make it an almost certainty that I would skip dinner that night.

One interesting thing about the lunch wasn’t the conversation, which was quite guarded, I think, or the restaurant — where I’ve eaten a couple of times be4. Rather, it was the fact that the ex-colleague and I have never met be4, even tho we worked in the same organisation and our time of employment overlapped. And it was thru the Internet that we got chatting… and finally to lunch.

meal in itself

salmon stuffed!

The next eating event of note was another buffet — this time at the Singapore Conference Hall on Nov 21 when a well-known woman philanthropist commemorated the birth anninversary of a better known philanthropist who left us three years earlier. The annual event comprised a slew of high profile awards with a lot a razzmatazz, media coverage and the de rigeuer ministerial (Cabinet, I mean, not church😉 ) attendance.

However no pix of the food, not out of deference to a visitor to this site who commented wickedly that I’m bragging abt my food adventures — but simply because by the time I got there, there wasn’t much left for me to eat, let alone take pix.

Which was just as well as I’ve been eating out too much and when I eat at home, it isn’t exactly starvation diet either.

Also, it served me right for changing my previous attendance practice of being unfashionably early when I could attack the tables groaning under the plentiful buffet spread. This latest invite saw me fashionably JIT (just-in-time). To be welcomed by a full to the brim carpark and virtually empty buffet tables. Perhaps in these difficult and hungry times, the new fashion is to be early when invited to feast!

The following week saw me at our annual pre-X’mas get-together lunch at N’s — again at her Oriole Crescent home, after a couple of experimental forays to do pre-X’mas at other venues which failed to live up to either expectations or budget.

So, here we were a bit early for X’mas tucking into a roast turkey, S’s liquor laden trifle cake, other goodies and a good slosh of great wine from BK. As a change from the usual pix, here is the X’mas tree which hadn’t been fuly dressed yet… because frankly X’mas Day was a month away…

O, X'mas tree 1/2 dressed

The last day of November saw me doing something I hadn’t done for quite a long while– eat the champagne brunch at the Tanglin Club, a monthly Sunday regular. After having started the month with champagne brunch at the Equinox and then to come to this over-priced, low quality and poorly serviced meal was a complete let-down. Especially when I was doing the hosting. And i remember all over again y I stopped going to the c-brunch.

Sure the Tanglin c-brunch is just $75 per head, compared to the $128+++ at Equinox. But note that the Tanglin charges a hefty monthly membership sub while the Equinox brunch, after using the Feed at the Raffles discount card, costs around $75 per pax. And while the price difference disappears, the value for money chasm between the two brunches remains so huge that as our current AG Walter Woon once said, u can drive an SMRT bus thru it. (Actually Prof Woon was referring to the stock market).